The City (TV series)

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The City

The City Title card
Format soap opera
Created by Agnes Nixon, James Harmon Brown, Barbara Esensten
Country of origin Flag of the United States United States
No. of episodes 352
Production
Running time 30 Minutes
Broadcast
Original channel ABC
Original run November 13, 1995 – March 28, 1997
External links
IMDb profile
TV.com summary

The ABC soap opera The City aired from November 13, 1995 to March 28, 1997 for 352 episodes. It was a loose spin-off of Loving.

In the story, the (mostly young) survivors of the Corinth Serial Killer (the final story on Loving) all moved from the Pennsylvania town of Corinth to a spacious loft in New York's SoHo district. Several months later, Lorraine (Maggie Rush), who had dazzled critics and fans in the final months of Loving, joined the show. She had left her long-lost love Charles (Angie's ex-husband) and took up with fellow middle-aged alcoholic Nick Rivers (Roscoe Born). Rivers shared a past with Sydney Chase (Morgan Fairchild) and there were plans to team the two up (they had palpable chemistry a decade earlier in ABC's short-lived prime time soap Paper Dolls) but the plans never materialized.

Contents

[edit] Cast

[edit] Entire run

Actor/Actress Character
Joni Allen Zoey
Roscoe Born Nick Rivers
Philip Brown Buck Huston
Lisa Lo Cicero Jocelyn Roberts Brown
Ted King Danny Roberts
Catherine Hickland Tess Wilder Partou Huston
Randolph Mantooth Alex Masters
Debbi Morgan Angie Baxter Hubbard Foster
Corey Page Richard Wilkins
George Palermo Tony Soleito
James Sioutis Joey Soleito
Darnell Williams Jacob Foster
Laura Wright Ally Rescott Alden Bowman

[edit] Partial Run

Actor/Actress Character Duration
P.J. Aliseo Dillon Quartermaine 1996-1997
Philip Anthony-Rodriguez Bernard Castro 1995-1996
Alimi Ballard Frankie Hubbard 1995-1996
Carlotta Chang Azure C. 1995-1996
Melissa Dye Molly Malone 1995-1996
Jane Elliot Tracy Quartermaine 1996-1997
Joel Fabiani Jared Chase 1996
Morgan Fairchild Sydney Chase 1995-1996
Amelia Heinle Steffi Brewster 1995-1996
Amy Van Horne Carla Soleito 1996-1997
Al Martino Gino Soleito (#1) 1996
Maggie Rush Lorraine Hawkins 1996-1997
Joseph Sirola Gino Soleito (#2) 1996-1997

[edit] Recurring Role

Actor/Actress Character Duration
Nancy Addison Deborah Brewster Alden 1995
Hank Berrings Samuel King 1995-1996
Gloria Cromwell Maria 1996
Jennifer Esposito Connie Soleito 1995-1997
Judy Gold Judy Silver 1995-1996
Erica Mer Kayla Jones 1995-1996
Frank Pellegrino Joseph Soleito Sr. 1995-1997
Michael James Reed Mike Chamberlain 1996
Monti Sharp James 1996
Geoffrey Wade Malcolm Christopher 1995
Michael Weatherly Cooper Alden 1995-1996
Walt Willey Jackson Montgomery 1996

[edit] Storylines

While it was started by Loving creator Agnes Nixon, The City was different from other soaps of its day, as the city wasn't the main setting on this show: the loft and its surroundings took precedence, and the city was secondary. Also, the show was shot on videotape using the Film-Look process for its entire run.

One of the most daring storylines on this show was one involving a transsexual. Photographer Bernardo had a one night stand with model Azure C (Carlotta Chang). He went to the corner to get some orange juice when he saw a picture of Azure C. before the sex change operation. The modeling agency which they both worked had to do a lot of damage control. The storyline began to take off but was soon dropped, in part due to the subject matter and in part due to lackluster reaction to Chang's performance. Azure and Bernardo reconciled and left town.

Like its predecessor, the show did not catch on (even though the cast had many famous faces, such as Morgan Fairchild and Debbi Morgan). In an attempt to remind viewers of the well-received "Corinth Killer" plot, in mid-1996 the show had most of the characters stalked (and some murdered by) a killer who left notes saying "Happy Now". The killer was revealed to be Danny (Ted King)'s girlfriend Molly Malone (Melissa Dye), whose sweet, perky behavior belied her true nature.

[edit] The End

Fairchild had only signed a one-year contract and left when that contract expired in late 1996. ABC replaced her with Jane Elliot, who was very popular as the witchy Tracy Quartermaine on General Hospital (Elliot had previously helped produce Loving from 1994-1995). Four months prior to her arrival, Elliot reprised her role on General Hospital for the summer in order to cross over on The City in the fall. However, despite Elliot's addition to the show, ratings continued to be the lowest of any daytime soap opera and ABC pulled the plug.

Five months after cancellation, after airing classic episodes of ABC's other soaps (All My Children, One Life to Live and General Hospital) in The City's time slot, ABC would replace the show with Port Charles, a soap that would last until October 2003.

The show did provide happy endings for most of its characters but when they failed to get Morgan Fairchild to appear again as Sydney Chase, the show killed her off by the "Happy Now" killer.

Talk show The View used Sydney Chase's loft set from The City until its fifth season.

[edit] Award Nominations

Languages